Charlotte is banning e-scooters from sidewalks in these areas

Charlotte City Council on Monday adopted rules to ban e-scooters from sidewalks in part of uptown, as well as cap speeds and charge scooter companies a per-unit fee.

The rules passed 7 to 3, with council members Braxton Winston, LaWana Mayfield and Matt Newton voting no. The rules are Charlotte’s first set of comprehensive regulations for the shared, dockless scooters, which have exploded in popularity since they were introduced in March. Charlotte riders racked up 82,523 trips covering 81,484 miles in December.

The months-long discussion over scooter rules has proved divisive, with council members openly expressing exasperation at the process Monday.

“We have spent so much time on scooters and have gotten very little done as a governing body,” said council member Tariq Bokhari, who said the city wasn’t paying attention to other issues that have come up. “We’re spending so much time not doing anything on (scooters).”